Teacher/band dad creates art for AHS Marching Band banners
Courtesy Photo by Avery Bates Thunder Bay Junior High art teacher Kyle Kieliszewski and his son Liam Kieliszewski pose with the banners that were made from Kyle’s original artwork, for use during the Alpena High School Marching Band performances at halftime of home football games. Garant’s Office Supplies and Printing enlarged the images to make the banners.
News Photo by Darby Hinkley Thunder Bay Junior High art teacher and band dad Kyle Kieliszewski works on a piece representing the Alpena High School marching band at the Aug. 24 football game.
News Photo by Darby Hinkley Kyle Kieliszewski, at easel in center, works on a piece of art as the Alpena High School Marching Band returns to their seats at the Aug. 24 football game in Alpena.
News Photo by Darby Hinkley Here is a closeup of the Iron Man banner.
News Photo by Darby Hinkley Here is a closeup of the Captain America banner.
News Photo by Darby Hinkley The Alpena High School Marching Band performs at the Aug. 24 home football game.
Courtesy Photo by Avery Bates Thunder Bay Junior High art teacher Kyle Kieliszewski and his son Liam Kieliszewski pose with the banners that were made from Kyle’s original artwork, for use during the Alpena High School Marching Band performances at halftime of home football games. Garant’s Office Supplies and Printing enlarged the images to make the banners.
News Photo by Darby Hinkley Thunder Bay Junior High art teacher and band dad Kyle Kieliszewski works on a piece representing the Alpena High School marching band at the Aug. 24 football game.
News Photo by Darby Hinkley Kyle Kieliszewski, at easel in center, works on a piece of art as the Alpena High School Marching Band returns to their seats at the Aug. 24 football game in Alpena.
News Photo by Darby Hinkley Here is a closeup of the Iron Man banner.
News Photo by Darby Hinkley Here is a closeup of the Captain America banner.
News Photo by Darby Hinkley The Alpena High School Marching Band performs at the Aug. 24 home football game.
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ALPENA -- This art teacher is enthusiastic about sharing his craft with others, and he's doing it on a big scale.
Kyle Kieliszewski is the art instructor at Thunder Bay Junior High School in Alpena. He's also the dad of Liam Kieliszewski, who plays snare drum in the Alpena High School Marching Band.
When Band Director Brad Beyer approached him about creating artwork that would be made into banners to use with the marching band, Kyle Kieliszewski was more than happy to help.
When he found out the main musical piece is the battle theme from "Captain America -- Civil War," when Captain America battles Iron Man, Kieliszewski was even more enthused.
It only took the skilled artist 12 hours to create colored pencil drawings of both Iron Man and Captain America, which were then enlarged and made into 5-foot by 7-foot vinyl banners by Garant's Office Supplies and Printing in Alpena.
"I did two passes on the Iron Man piece," Kieliszewski said. "It was actually the more challenging of the two … I decided to add smashes and dents to his face plate."
He said that added depth and asymmetry.
The marching band raised and secured the funds to purchase transportable banner frames which display large scale graphics. The banners made their first appearance at the Aug. 24 home football game.
"I wasn't quite certain the level of fidelity that would be achievable with the polyvinyl banner material," Kieliszewski said. "I was enormously impressed with the level of fidelity. There's no pixelation. They did a splendid job. The whole thing just turned out great."
Beyer said he wanted to add visual elements to the halftime show, and he approached Kieliszewski in the spring to see if he was interested.
"I said 'Sure'," Kieliszewski said. "I had no idea what he meant by banners."
"It's a pretty common thing for bands to have props to help suit the theme," Beyer noted. "It seemed to make a lot of sense. His son's in the band, and he's a great artist, and he's enthusiastic about Marvel, so it just kind of fit … We're super grateful. Not only was he willing to do it, he was so enthusiastic about it."
Football fans will have a chance to see the banners and marching band in action again tonight. The Alpena High Wildcats take on Sanford Meridian tonight, with kickoff at 7 p.m.
Beyer and Kieliszewski see redeeming qualities in Iron Man, but they tend to favor Captain America for his strong moral compass and willingness to stand up for what is right.
Now, you pick a side.